The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece

The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece

Julien-David Le Roy

2004

576 pages

PDF file size: 67.8 MB


Description

Julien-David Le Roy’s Les ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grece, initially issued in 1758, first revealed to European eyes the wonders of Greek classical architecture. Overnight, Greece became the rage, much to the chagrin of Giovanni Battista Piranesi and other defenders of the genius of Rome. The impact of the volume’s splendid engravings of Athens’s ancient ruins on contemporary aesthetics was heightened—particularly in the much-expanded edition of 1770—by its two highly provocative theoretical essays. In one, Le Roy set forth a compelling linear history of the conceptual forms of architecture that began in Egypt, moved to Greece, then Rome, and finally modern Europe. In the other, seeking to express the experience of architectural form and its effects, Le Roy gave new voice to feeling. Here the second edition of Les ruines is published in English for the first time, framed by the sweeping exposition of both the intellectual milieu out of which Le Roy’s work emerged and the controversies it generated. Introduction by Robin Middleton and translation by David Britt.

Table of Contents

  • Foreword
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction, Robin Middleton
  • The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece, Historically and Architecturally Considered
  • Volume One, Which Contains the Ruins of Those Monuments Erected by the Athenians before the End of the Age of Pericles; with an Essay on the History of Architecture, and a Dissertation on the Length of the Greek Foot
  • Preface
  • Essay on the History of Architecture
  • Part 1. The Ruins of the Monuments Erected by the Athenians before the End of the Age of Pericles, Historically Considered
  • Part 2. The Ruins of the Monuments Erected by the Athenians before the End of the Age of Pericles and Alexander, Architecturally Considered
  • Volume Two, Which Contains the Ruins of the Monuments Erected by the Athenians after the End of the Age of Pericles and the Antiquities of Corinth and Sparta; with an Essay on the Theory of Architecture, and a Dissertation on the Length of the Course at Olympia
  • Essay on the Theory of Architecture
  • Part 1. The Ruins of the Monuments Erected by the Athenians after the End of the Age of Pericles, Historically Considered; with the Antiquities of Corinth and Sparta
  • Part 2. The Ruins of the Monuments Erected by the Athenians after the End of the Age of Pericles, Architecturally Considered; with a Description of Two Temples, One at Pola, the Other at Corinth
  • Works by Le Roy
  • Works Cited by Le Roy
  • Prospectus
  • Comparison of Editions
  • Illustration Credits
  • Index

About the Authors

Julien-David Le Roy was a French architect whose famous text, Les ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grece, was first published in 1758.

Robin Middleton is professor emeritus of art history at Columbia University.

David Britt has translated many art historical texts, including Piranesi’s Observations on the Letter of Monsieur Mariette.

Press Reviews and Awards

“A delight to read.” —Bryn Mawr Classical Review